Special Issues

Depressed about the environment? Do something!

Opinion
Environmental news is a downer. I know. Despite trying to balance news about climate change and energy development with a love for wild places and muddy rivers, I’ve pretty much spent a decade of my life depr...

An ode to the sometimes neglected, always underestimated, Rio Grande

Summer Guide
Staring at a killdeer skittering across a sandbar, I wonder why we don’t see anyone else up or down the Rio Grande here in Albuquerque. “Most people,” says my friend, a biologist (and an irrigator, too), ...

New Mexico wants the feds’ help—when it’s convenient

Opinion
On May 15, Gov. Susana Martinez issued a formal drought declaration for New Mexico. According to the National Weather Service, 2011 was the second driest year on record. The entire state experienced decreased m...

Bird populations have enough to worry about without poisoned birdseed

Opinion
I felt no smug satisfaction when reading of a recent federal court case involving The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company. In March, the company pled guilty to charges that it had knowingly sold poisoned birdseed.

Federal agencies’ negotiations could affect an entire ecosystem

Opinion
In a shaky, hand-shot video from 2010, Nimish Vyas of the United States Geological Survey pans across a field in Vernon, Colo. Vyas focuses on a dirt mound and then zooms in on a pale spot atop the dry, tawny g...

A 2006 promise to reintroduce otters remains unfulfilled

Opinion
Most New Mexicans have never spotted a wild river otter. In the 19th century, the animals were trapped out of existence in much of their historic range. The last one known to have lived—or at least died—in ...

Five essential books for understanding New Mexico

Features
There are a lot of things Edward Abbey didn’t like: dams, fences, billboards—and cars in national parks. Writing of his time working at Arches National Park, in Desert Solitaire, he railed against visitors ...

EcoSystemic Policy

Opinion
Climate change affects everyone, even if it doesn’t feel like it.Over the past 15 years, I’ve driven through a handful of dust storms that made me feel, even just momentarily, that I wouldn’t find a safe ...

Climate Inaction: With climate change, it’s up to communities to save themselves

Opinion
Don’t believe in climate change? Congratulations. But this isn’t the Rapture. Whether you believe or not, you’re coming along for the ride. This means that, if you live in New Mexico, you’re going to ex...